In 2013, UN Women released “The Autocomplete Truth” digital campaign. The
campaign consists of four public service announcements created by Memac Ogilvy and Mather
Dubai. By incorporating Google’s autocomplete suggestion function, the series of PSAs convey
the prevalence of sexism all over the world. Ultimately, the PSA represents women being
stripped of their voices and rights due to the prevailing stereotypes. In exposing such
discrimination, the PSA aims to fulfill UN Women’s mission of enabling all women to be able to
“exercise [their] human rights and live up to [their] full potential” (“About Us.”).
By covering the mouths of the women with Google’s autocomplete suggestions, the PSA
exposes the pervasiveness of stereotypes and discrimination against women. Specifically, under
the general google search, the autocomplete suggestions clearly reveal sexist sentiments. Phrases
such as “women should stay at home” and “women cannot drive” indicates stereotypes that
restrict women of certain actions. In addition, phrases such as “women shouldn’t vote” and
“women need to be controlled” entirely denies women of their basic rights. The completion of
command phrases in the search bar which use assertive verbs such as “cannot”, “shouldn’t”, and
“need to”, by such sexist remarks therefore accentuates the widespread repression of women.
Moreover, the notion that the mouths of the women are covered by the autocomplete suggestions
convey the representation of how women are silenced and oppressed by such stereotypes. As the
autocomplete suggestion function essentially speaks for whatever is being searched, this parallels
to how women are unable to speak for themselves and are in fact expressed through sexist
stereotypes. The claim that the autocomplete suggestions - which show the most commonly
searched searches on the most-used search engine - are “actual Google searches on 09/03/13”
affirms the widespread presence of sexism. In addition, each of the four PSAs illustrate women
of different ethnicities. This once again reinforces the fact that sexism is a problem all women,
regardless of race and ethnicity, are left to face.
In addition to the representation of women being unable to speak for themselves and
having to live under autocomplete stereotypes that repress them, the neutral visual expressions of
the women in the PSA indicate how they are also unable to express themselves within society.
The visual focus of the PSA is clearly on the women’s faces as it takes up the largest surface area
and is highlight by a black background. In all four versions of the PSA, the women are depicted
wearing a neutral and even seemingly blank expression. These expressions give the impression
that these women are deprived of the right to even express themselves or convey their thoughts
and emotions. This aligns with the restrictive message of the phrases in the autocomplete
suggestions such as “women shouldn’t work” and “women cannot be trusted.” Moreover, it is
clear that of all the facial features, the focal point is on the eyes of each woman as it stands out
the most. As our eyes are often considered a medium of communication, the emphasis that is put
into the eyes of the women accentuates the emptiness that is conveyed from the PSA and thus
evokes sympathy. Therefore, the simple yet powerful atmosphere created through the visual
elements of the PSA represents women in a sympathetic light, thus provoking the readers to find
solutions to eradicate the inequalities women are left to endure.
In contrast to the autocomplete search suggestions, the phrase in white below the search
bar contradicts the sexisim present in the autocomplete search suggestions and provides an
alternative to how women should be treated and represented. Specifically, the phrase starts out
with what was searched for in the first place. However, it is clear that the phrases in white aim to
empower women and combat sexism and discrimination against women. For instance, pertaining
to the search “women need to,” Google’s autocomplete function suggests “women need to be put
in their place” and “women need to be controlled.” Clearly, these suggestions represent women
as being inferior to men. The phrases undermine women’s role in society by objectifying them as
mere subordinates and deprives them of their right to be self-autonomous. In contrast to this,
below the search bar, the phrase “women need to be seen as equal” is written in white with the
words “need to be seen as equal” in bold. Whereas the autocomplete search suggestions convey
sexism that only deepens the inequality between men and women, the phrase written in white
clearly aims to promote equality. Not only that, in the other sets of PSAs, phrases such as
“women should have the right to make their own decisions” and “women cannot accept the way
things are” are written. Through the contrast between the exceedingly sexist and discriminatory
phrases shown in the autocomplete suggestions and the phrases written in white, the PSA
effectively calls for female empowerment and equality amongst men and women.
By incorporating Google’s autocomplete suggestion function, “The Autocomplete Truth”
PSA by UN Women effectively conveys the sexism women all around the world are left to face.
In addition to the explicit sexism conveyed through the autocomplete suggestions, the visual
elements of the PSA contribute to conveying the representation of women being constricted and
repressed by society’s stereotypes and discrimination. Essentially, the adaptation of the PSA on
Google, a widely used search engine, reveals the extent to which societies are infested with
discrimination against women. As a result, the PSA effectively raises awareness towards the
need to empower females and narrow the inequality between men and women all over the world.